Phantom Song
by Jateshi
Summary: A short, sweet Zelgadis and Lina songifc. The song is one from Slayers Try


Dedicated to my beloved sister, who's feeling down and could always use another fic to love.  
  
Disclaimer(s): I am not the creator of these two star-crossed lovers, no matter how much I wish to be. pout The settings are from my (demented) imagination and the plot ( plot? what plot?) is of my design alone. I also happen to be *VERY* poor right now - and I have been for some time - so don't bother to sue me - I couldn't pay for the small amount of rubber that would rub off my shoes to walk to my mailbox. I am a poor, lonely, writing student who should've never decided to start writing fan-fics again. Now that you have been warned, please, sit down on a comfy chair, grab a bag of popcorn and crunch the kernels - this'll be too short to even allow you to cook the bag...  
  
~Zelgadis's Dream and Lina's Lover~  
  
*Somewhere in the world, somewhere in the night...I can hear your voice start call my name...*  
  
  
Lina brushed her long bangs from her eyes, pushing her black headband further back on her head to help her battle; as her hand touched the band's surface, runes sparkled briefly and then faded into blackness again. The wind blew Lina's red/gold hair around her face and body, the tresses flying like a flag in the breeze. Wrapping her cloak tighter to her figure, Lina Inverse sighed and laid her head on her bent-up knees.  
  
*Might be my memory, might be my future, my real life, waiting for me...*  
  
  
Zelgadis ran his wire brush through his hair, frowning as he pulled another strand of his metallic purple hair from the bristles. His purple/blue eyes empty, Zelgadis ran his semi-gloved hand over his hair and smoothed the strands of metal down to a style-like appearance. Pulling his fabric mask up again and pulling his hood over his hair to hang around his face again, he stood up and walked to the door of his room, turning the wooden handle. Stepping out into the hallway, Zelgadis silently walked down the hall, descended the wooden stairs, and walked into the Inn's Common Room. Sitting himself down at the table in the darkest corner of the room, he closed his eyes and fought back a flood of emotions and memories.  
  
*Please, baby don't leave me all alone, wasted in this empty life alone. I close my eyes, let me hear your voice; longing to be gone, to a brighter day...*  
  
  
Sighing, Lina absently picked up her black cloak from the ground next to where she sat and, as she stood, flipped the fabric over her shoulders and hooked the cloak onto her shoulder guards. As she checked the cloak's clasps to make sure it wouldn't fall off, Lina removed her gold spherical earrings and tucked them into a hidden pocket along her cloak's interior. Walking down the dirt path she'd sat next to for a day, she made her way cautiously to the inn.  
  
Pushing it's heavy door open, Lina sat at a random table and sighed, staring dejectedly at her gloves, fingering one of her blood amulets. ::This inn…how long ago did we part? Gourry and Syphiel have been married for five, no six, years. Xelloss vanished after the Great Battle…Filia is hiding, raising baby Val…Amelia is…:: Lina sighed. It had been less than ten years since she remembered first meeting that fish-for-brains swordsman Gourry but somehow, the time had passed.  
  
The first time she met Zelgadis…Lina smiled softly, her eyes softening at the memory. She was barely mature but she'd become famous – or rather, *infamous* for her damn-it-all-to-hell attack attitude and she and Zelgadis had been after the same thing… Lina sifted through her memory but couldn't remember exactly what they had first fought over; was seven years really that long ago?  
  
She'd been so childish then, so naïve about life. Fighting the Mazoku and old friends had quickly taken that innocence away from her. And then she became so confused…Lina's eyes turned their focus inward, her small smile melting down to a blank, thoughtful look. Years after she'd separated from Gourry, Amelia, Zelgadis, Xelloss, and Filia, Lina the child had finally come to terms with her adult persona. Lina the child couldn't accept love but Lina the adult could admit it.  
  
She hadn't seen him for so long though…Lina blinked back tears. She'd continued adventuring, earning more fame and wealth; she'd traveled around entire countries searching for the goal of his quest. She had spent four years of her life trying to find him and help him; in her four years, she'd not heard one word about him. She'd heard no whispered descriptions of his face or body. She'd heard no talks of powerful shamans who could destroy Mazoku with one astral attack.  
  
Had the one person she, Lina Inverse the bandit killer, admitted her love for died?  
  
*Hold me gently, kiss me gently, till the morning takes my breath away…*  
  
  
Zelgadis flashed a poor imitation of a smile at the serving wench, accepting his pot, cup and saucer of coffee from her tray. He rarely ate and he rarely drank but…Zelgadis mournfully sipped his coffee. This inn was the last place he'd seen Lina; she had been sitting at the table next to him, sharing jokes and stories to hide some pain. Zelgadis smiled wistfully, his purple eyes softening.  
  
From the moment he'd first seen Lina, before he'd even had her trussed up like a pig, he felt a difference in her; Lina might have looked and acted like a fifteen year old innocent girl but just as she knew he wasn't full human, he'd known she wasn't fifteen. On that last day he'd seen her, the last day they'd been together, Lina had seemed mature. And pained.  
  
Setting his coffee down softly on the saucer, the movement not even making the ceramics clink, he pulled his mask further down his neck. Closing his eyes, Zelgadis imagined how Lina would look now.  
  
She would probably still be adventuring with Gourry – she had always stayed with him and he doted on her every word; Zelgadis pushed aside the disdain he felt for the swordsman. She would still look fifteen, that he was sure of – Lina wouldn't grow up until she found the true reason why she stayed young. ::Lina wouldn't want to admit to herself she's scared of life and the future…she doesn't want to grow up because it would mean pain…::  
  
  
*Might be a memory, might be the future calling me from somewhere in my life…*  
  
  
Lina pushed her untouched plate of food away, standing up, she left a small gold coin next to her plate as a tip and walked to the back of the inn.  
  
She'd finally remembered why she'd come to this specific inn. Lina smiled wistfully. For years she'd been dreaming almost prophetic dreams. A month ago she dreamed of him, smiling at her, the great Inn Standard behind his face. Smiling mournfully now, Lina walked back towards the unlit fireplace, ignoring the tables until she came to the darkest, loneliest table.  
  
"Zel?"  
  
*Kokoro ni anata. Karewa ni…koi?  
You in my heart. Is this…love?*  
  
  
Zelgadis groaned softly, the voice tickling his mind. He was having another dream, another torturing, horrible dream…  
  
"Go away…" he whispered, his voice filled with anguish. "Don't haunt me anymore…she's gone now…"  
  
Lina's breath suddenly seemed to vanish as she listened desperately to the husky timbre of a voice.  
  
"Zelgadis? Zel?" Lina's voice was soft but her words still caught in her throat. "Chimera?"  
  
Zelgadis's eyes snapped open, gazing deeply into those golden eyes that had spent the last four years watching him sleep. "What demonic mind would ever have thrown you…" Zelgadis stopped, his left hand reaching to lightly caress a lock of red/gold hair.  
  
It felt softer, more womanly than he remembered it.  
  
"Lina Inverse?"   
  
Lina nodded, her eyes filled with emotions of love, longing and hope. A lone tear fell down the side of her face. Lina sank slowly to her knees, her gloved hand enclosing the Chimera's.  
  
"It's really you?" she asked, her voice filled with fear.  
  
Zelgadis smiled warmly, his smile transforming his face beyond beauty into angelic countenance. "Koibito, Lina-san."  
  
Lina smiled, here eyes filled with love, their red/gold gaze for him alone. "Koibito, Zelgadis-san."  
  
*It is finished…*  
  



End file.
